Introduction

Innovation is the key strategy of many organizations in the global competitive industries of the new century. New ideas can lead to programs, products, and services that can provide a distinct competitive advantage over competitors. With routine tasks becoming more automated and the competitive environment becomes more dynamic, creative problem solving and innovation will play an increasingly important role in determining the success of business leaders. Creativity is the process of generating new and useful ideas. Innovation is taking a new idea and putting it to use. The critical role of the leader is to create an environment where creativity and innovation flourish, and where people’s innate resistance to the changes that require is successfully overcome.

This program offers an opportunity to focus on the development and nurturing of people, processes, and practices that foster innovation to come up with better methods and services to outperform the competition. The program will demonstrate how to take the strategic plan and process to the next level and gaining the essential “buy-in” from all employees by a methodology proven by some of the world’s largest corporations. Getting their energy, ideas, and changes to make the strategic process a success is vital and is the core of this program.

Course Objectives of Smart Leadership

This seminar aims to enable participants to:

• Set creativity and innovation in a strategic context
• Understand the drivers for a greater emphasis in business on creativity and innovation
• Identify the processes and activities which support creativity and innovation in organizations
• Identify the strategies, tools, and techniques to improve levels of creativity and innovation
• Understand how the process of change can block or enable employees at all levels to resist or embrace a greater emphasis on creativity and innovation
• Understand the crucial role and skills of the leader in creating an environment where creativity and innovation thrive

Course Benefits of Smart Leadership

• Develop skills for strategic leaders to lead the process of building the right culture for fostering innovation
• Improve preparedness to deal with strategic improvements
• Establish organizational, team and personal innovative capabilities
• Improve performance by executive innovative processes and functions
• Improve motivation and gain the participation of the full workforce
• Allow leaders to better meet challenges of dynamic, strategic change

Course Results of Smart Leadership

The skills learned in this program will enable any manager to drive forward new ideas that can contribute to making any new strategy a success. Advancements in an enterprise come about because innovation or constant improvement techniques are encouraged by management to get all employees performing with new levels of thinking. Gaining the buy-in from all participants who can make the new strategy or change work is a key result of this program.

Core Competencies of Smart Leadership

• Innovative Leadership
• Process Improvement
• Human Interaction Skill
• Fostering Creativity
• Team Building
• Change Management

Course Outlines of Smart Leadership

Day One

Encouraging a Creative Climate at Work

• Innovative leadership for excellent performance
• The Critical mass for change and innovation
• Innovation VS Constant Improvement
• How a Leader Creates a Climate of Innovation
• Case Study on Most Innovative Companies
• Innovation and current business breakthroughs

Day Two

Gaining the Participation of the Workforce

• The G.E. “Workout” Strategy
• Developing Creative Solutions for Strategies
• Gaining the “Buy-In” from the workforce
• Overcoming Paradigms
• Dealing with Organizational “Drift”
• Case Study on Gaining Empowerment

Day Three

Leading on the creative edge

• Developing Creative Potential in People and Teams
• Understanding Creative People
• Convergent & Divergent Thinking Skills
• Motivating Creative Individuals at work
• Incubating ideas
• Interacting creatively
• Converting expenses to assets using creativity

Day Four

Creating a Motivating Climate for Higher Productivity

• The Ten Key Elements to Setting up new Missions
• Setting Goals and Targets Creatively
• Creating a “Sense of Significance”
• Rewarding Performance
• The Four-Step “Pygmalion” theory
• Generational Motivators

Day Five

Driving Strategic Change

• Managing the Change Process
• Kotter’s Change Management Techniques
• Communicating with a Sense of Urgency
• The Downside of Change
• Creating a climate of Constant Change
• Successful techniques for Changing People